More Mo Market Magic

Under the temporary canopies inside the Mo market, where the light is dim on a sunny day, a specialist vendor squatted over her single short season product. Rather than peddling a range of common garden vegetables, this type of vendor chooses produce less fundamental to the cuisine, much less visible on a day to day basis. It might a tiny fruit ball with a two day season or a mutated lime. One thing is common - these vendors are going for top dong, playing the rarity ("you won't see these again till next year") card to entice the consumer.

This trick doesn't work on me this particular day. Again, they looked like Chrissy decorations. I did want to know the name though.

"Atiso," she said.

"Artichoke," I guessed, was the translation. But they don't look like the arties I know.

I'd always assumed they were fruit because they're so dissimilar to other hibiscus flowers. It seems the retailed product is actually the calcyes/calyx/sepal - the part of the plant from which the hibiscus flower grows.

Believe it or not I recently saw these in an asian market here in Toronto. I thought they looked just like "jamaica" that I am used to seeing in Oaxacan markets, so this makes sense that it's the fruit. So what do you do with them? I know the petals make great tea and "lemonade". So it's for jam? eat them boiled? hmm gotta try it.

They are roselle fruits....generally sour but boiled with sugar to create a ribena like syrup. Hibiscus flowers are not like that...or at least the national flower of my country Malaysia looks so different. Roselle starting appearing in Malaysia around late 70s. Grows well in tropics.

In Australia, in a somewhat spooky discovery considering I had just posted about them, I spotted them in jars in syrup in grog shops - and the little blighters are dropped into champagne flutes and topped up with bubbly! A very fine use for them, I must say!